Heat Wave
by sixoxox
Summary: A mid-November heat wave takes over Los Angeles. And Tori. (Mainly Jori. A little bit of Cori and Cade.) Oneshot.


Heat always makes me go crazy. Like, completely crazy. This time we had been given warning. We knew this heat wave was coming. But the first day of 90° weather in the middle of November was unbearable. Any warning we had been given did basically nothing to prepare us. Southern California summers are always rough. But you get used to it and it's not such a big deal anymore. At that point in November our bodies were adjusted to 75° weather.

I stepped outside wearing flip flops, a pair of shorts, and a tank top. Instantly I could feel perspiration on my forehead. As I walked to Trina's car I felt beads of sweat forming on the back of my neck. It was only 7:30 AM but the heat was already too much to handle. It only got worse from there.

We got to school and I walked into the building, expecting some air conditioned relief. It was just as hot inside as it was outside.

"The air conditioners are broken!" Andre frantically shouted as he ran past me. I tried to laugh but I was already too drained. Any energy I had started the day with was already gone. I pulled out my PearPhone to check the temperature. It was 93° in Los Angeles.

I slowly made my way to Sikowitz's classroom and took my seat. There were two fans set up near the front of the room but they didn't seem to be doing much good.

"Lethargy!" Sikowitz shouted out as he entered the classroom. He pronounced it with the accent on the "thar" instead of the "le." "Today we will practice acting with lethargy."

"That's not acting," Jade spit out at him. "We're all dying. It's like a hundred degrees."

I pulled out my phone to check the temperature again. "Ninety five," I said.

"I said it was like a hundred," Jade shouted at me.

"Lethargy!" Sikowitz shouted out again, still pronouncing it incorrectly.

"It's lethargy," I told him, pronouncing it correctly.

"Lethargy," he said again. "Say it with me, class. Lethargy."

"Lethargy," our lethargic voices chimed in a chorus, pronouncing it his way.

I slumped down into my seat and after a few minutes I could feel my eyes begin to shut. I could hear Sikowitz call Cat and Andre up to the stage. My eyes flickered open and closed, straining to stay open.

"Jade! Why don't you join Cat and Andre up on the stage?" Sikowitz said. Jade stood up and walked up to Cat.

"You are lethargic," Sikowitz said, this time putting the emphasis incorrectly on the "le." "You are going to lethargically tell secrets."

"My brother told me a secret once," Cat said, just as peppy as usual. Jade and Andre stared at her, waiting to hear another of Cat's ridiculous stories.

"Well?" Andre said.

"I can't tell you!" Cat shouted. "It's a secret!"

"Andre!" Sikowitz shouted before anyone could react to Cat's response. "You start!"

"It's really hot in here," Andre said.

"That's not a secret!" Sikowitz shouted.

"Okay," Andre said. He turned to Cat and Jade. "I'm scared I won't ever get a record deal." No one responded. No one knew how to. He turned to Sikowitz. "What's the point of this?"

"We are pushing our boundaries!" Sikowitz explained. "We are being honest!"

"Lethargically?" Andre asked skeptically.

"Lethargically!" Sikowitz answered. "Jade! Your turn!"

"I think I'm in love with a girl," Jade said with zero emotion in her voice. For a second I thought I saw her eyes drift in my direction.

"Jade! What a wonderful secret!" Sikowitz exclaimed. "Do go on!"

Jade looked around the classroom. All eyes were on her.

"Umm," Jade considered what to say next. "Sometimes I think she feels the same way."

"Great, Jade!" Sikowitz said. "Keep going!"

"Do you?" Jade asked. That time she was unmistakably looking at me. I froze. "Tori?"

Suddenly there was no one else in the room. Everyone had bizarrely disappeared. Jade took a step off the stage and slowly made her way to me. I mustered all of the energy I could and stood up. Jade didn't even stop walking. She just kept moving until her body leaned on mine and her lips pressed into mine. All I could think was "yes, I do feel the same way."

Jade pulled away and shouted "Vega!"

I was back in my seat. Jade was sitting in the seat next to me. She shouted my last name again. "Vega!" She kicked one of the legs of my seat, causing it to move from under me. Resulting in me landing on the floor.

I felt about twenty degrees warmer than I had a few seconds earlier. I had no idea how I got back into my seat anyway. I looked up at Jade and that's when it hit me. I must have imagined the entire thing.

"Jade! Why don't you join Cat and Andre up on the stage?" Sikowitz said. Jade stood up and walked up to Cat.

I was pretty sure that had happened already. I stood up and settled back into my seat. I touched my hand to my forehead and wiped off more sweat than I was comfortable with. I wiped my hand on my shorts, leaving a damp streak. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the temperature again. 98°.

"Cat, Andre, Jade," Sikowitz said with more excitement than he should have in 98° weather. "You will be lethargically expressing yourselves. Go!"

"My brother expressed himself once," Cat started.

"Cat!" Sikowitz shouted as he walked right up to her. He leaned over until his face was only two inches from hers.

"You're silly," Cat giggled.

"And we're back!" Sikowitz said. "Andre, Jade, let's hear it."

"It's hot," Andre said.

"I'm tired," Jade said.

"My hair is sticking to the back of my neck!" Cat chimed in.

"With lethargy, Cat!" Sikowitz yelled at her.

"My hair is sticking to the back of my neck," Cat said with slightly less energy.

"Close enough!" Sikowitz said. "Andre, back to you!"

"It's so hot, it's gross. I'm pretty certain I'm going to pass out." Andre said.

"I'm literally going to die," Jade said.

"Express something other than your feelings about the heat!" Sikowitz guided.

"I think I'm in love with a girl," Cat said.

I jumped up in my seat. Now that had definitely happened already.

"Sometimes I think she feels the same way," Cat. I stood up, knowing she would be walking right over to me. She stopped right in front of me and took my hand. "Tori?" She stood up on her tippy toes so she could be on eye level with me. "Do you?" She leaned into me and kissed me. All I could think was "no, I don't."

"Again, Vega!?" Jade shouted as she kicked my chair out from under me. I landed on the floor with a thud.

"Oww," I whined. "Jade!"

"Don't start with me, Vega!" Jade shouted back at me.

I looked up at the stage. Cat and Andre were standing up there. I had done it again. The heat was really getting to me. I could feel beads of sweat dripping down the back of my neck. I took a ponytail holder off my wrist and pulled my hair back so it would be off my neck. Then I slumped back down into my seat.

"Jade! Why don't you join Cat and Andre up on the stage?" Sikowitz said. Jade stood up and walked up to Cat.

I thought that I must have been losing my mind. This had happened already and I was no longer able to tell what was real.

"You are going to lethargically tell us all something we probably don't know about you." Sikowitz said. "Jade! You first!"

"I keep a pair of scissors with me everywhere I go," Jade said.

"We all know that, Jade." Sikowitz said. "Try again."

She thought for a few moments. "I'm like one quarter Jewish on my mother's side."

"Great" Sikowitz said. "Andre!" He pointed at Andre.

"Sometimes I let my grandma paint my nails," Andre said. Everyone laughed.

"I still suck my thumb!" Cat shouted.

"Lethargically," Sikowitz said.

"I still suck my thumb," Cat said in a deeper, but just as energized, voice.

Sikowitz just shook his head and turned to face Jade. "Back to you!"

"I think I'm in love with a girl," Jade said, surprising everyone but me. "Sometimes I think she feels the same way."

I stood up, knowing that was my cue.

"Do you?" Jade asked. For a second her eyes locked with mine. I took a step toward her but her gaze continued until she was looking at the redheaded girl next to her. "Cat?"

"I do!" Cat exclaimed. They walked to each other and met in a kiss. The second their lips touched I felt a searing pain run through my gut.

"Vega!" I was jolted back to reality by Jade's voice shouting out my last name again and hitting me in the shoulder with her bag.

"Jade!" I shouted. "That hurt!"

"That was the point," Jade said. I looked at her and thought about the feeling that I had experienced when I saw Jade kissing Cat. Was that real pain? Heartbreak? Jealousy? My inner monologue was interrupted by Sikowitz spewing out the words I expected to hear.

"Jade! Why don't you join Cat and Andre up on the stage?" Sikowitz said.

"No no no," I said as I stood up. "Not this time." Confused looks covered the faces of my classmates. "My turn." I walked up to the stage and clapped my hands together once. "I'm ready, let's go."

"Lethargy," Sikowitz said. "You are going to lethargically express your feelings for someone."

"Perfect," I said. I knew what I planned to do.

"I really like - " Cat started to speak but I cut her off.

"I think I'm in love with a girl," I said, following what seemed to be a script. Through the lethargy there rang a tone of frustration. I couldn't help but feel like I was stuck in a dream sequence and that if I finally beat the game it would stop. Everyone in their seats stared up at me. Cat gasped. Andre silently clapped and nodded his head as if he had seen it coming.

A bead of sweat dripped into my ear. I did my best to ignore it. I continued. "Sometimes I think she feels the same way."

I stepped down from the stage and walked right up to Jade. I put my hand on the back of her neck, not surprised to find no sweat there. I pulled her in for a kiss.

"Vega!" Jade shouted. I opened my eyes, expecting to be back in my seat. I wasn't. "What are you doing?" Jade screamed as she pushed me away. I almost tumbled to the ground but was able to regain my balance. I looked around the classroom and saw mouths wide open. Everyone seemed to be in awe. Except for Sikowitz and Andre, who turned their backs to me and shared what they thought to be a secret high five.

I looked back at Jade. I had never seen such anger on her face. "Vega?" she said. "Run." I promptly took her suggestion.

I grabbed my bag and ran straight to the nurse's office. I was completely out of breath and dripping sweat. I spent the rest of the day falling in and out of sleep on a cot in the back of the nurse's office. There were fans faced directly at me but even then I couldn't differentiate between my waking and sleeping moments. The nurse must have alerted Trina because suddenly my sister was half carrying me out to her car.

Once we were in the car I was able to check the temperature on my phone. 101°. I groaned. Trina handed me a cool bottle of water and I drank almost all of it in one big gulp. I was feeling better in the air conditioned car but that went away as soon as I stepped out into our driveway.

I was more than shocked to see Jade leaning casually against the front door.

"Let me in, Vega," she demanded. "It's too hot out here."

Trina opened the door and we all went inside. I walked up to the couch and fell backward onto it. Jade came over and sat cross legged on the ground right in front of me. She leaned her back against the couch and faced away from me.

"I'll just leave you two alone," Trina said. Her tone of voice indicated that she knew what had happened at school. Somehow she knew, but I still wasn't sure what had actually happened. Trina's look led me to believe that I had actually kissed Jade. "I'm going to go give Beck a call, now that he's single."

"Nobody cares!" Jade snapped at my sister.

My sister went upstairs. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "Look, Jade. If you are just here to yell at me can you please save it for another day?"

"Vega," Jade said.

"Seriously, Jade. I feel like I'm about to pass out," I said lethargically.

"Vega!" Jade raised her voice.

"What?" I shouted back at her.

She tilted her head back so she was looking upside down at me. "Tori," she said. She rarely used my first name. I rolled onto my side and faced her. I could feel her breath. "I..." She went silent.

"You?" I tried to encourage her.

"Vega, you kissed me." She said, confirming what I thought had happened.

"I'm sorry," I said. I reached up to pull back a strand of her hair that had fallen over her forehead. She raised her hand. I expected her to smack mine away but instead she gently rested hers on mine.

She spoke quietly. "I didn't... entirely... hate it." That was not what I expected. I used my free hand to touch my forehead. I wasn't sweating. I was back to a normal temperature. I wondered if this could really be happening. "Say something!" she insisted.

Instead of speaking I sat up and leaned over as far as I could until I was able to kiss her upside down lips. I could feel the smile on them that matched the one on my own.

After a few moments she pulled away and her smile faded. Mine faded with it. Then she shouted my last name. "Vega!"

Suddenly I was back in my seat in Sikowitz's classroom. But only for a second until Jade kicked my seat out from under me and I landed on the floor. I couldn't even react before Sikowitz spoke.

"Jade! Why don't you join Cat and Andre up on the stage?" he said.


End file.
